Well the lady all over the trailer isn't in the book.
But changing the scale would turn it into a different story. It's a metaphor for the attitude of the British Empire at the time of Wells writing it, there is a lot to be said for not changing it whatsoever.
It's just that crossing the channel to save you from creatures from a different planet doesn't make much sense (in an otherwise excellent book) and puts it firmly in Brian Aldiss's "cosy catastrophe" group of books. So either change it to a different story, or go with illogicality - damned either way really,
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Thrill_My_Chinchilla is old and unimproved, Sun 29 Sep 2019, 11:37,
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But that would be what you'd do in that situation, wouldn't it? I mean it's not like you'd imagine fleeing to France would be ultimately safe, but it'd undoubtedly be safer than staying in the UK with bloody huge tripods wrecking up the place.
Get somewhere your life isn't in immediate danger. Then plan ahead.
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evil_andy Stick stick stick stick sticky sticky stick stick, Mon 30 Sep 2019, 17:00,
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The grumble was more that The Rest Of The World didn't seem to even be on the Martian radar
In terms of conquering the planet, on a practical level, the British Isles really should have been a footnote, looking at land mass etc.
But as I say, it makes it a different book, and muddies the metaphor a bit.
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Thrill_My_Chinchilla is old and unimproved, Mon 30 Sep 2019, 18:38,
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Ok, but it was written in the late 1800's, when the British Empire was still very much a thing. If you we're slowly but surely drawing your plans against that Earth, an all-out assault on London makes sense. Decapitate the strongest nation, then work on the weaker ones.
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evil_andy Stick stick stick stick sticky sticky stick stick, Mon 30 Sep 2019, 22:54,
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Not sure I'd agree with that assessment of relative strengths
And it would be piss easy for a Planet of Martians to isolate a small island off the coast of Europe, when all you were interested in doing is basically eat everyone.
Don't think that book would have sold much though.
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Thrill_My_Chinchilla is old and unimproved, Tue 1 Oct 2019, 18:39,
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